Andrews University's James White Library hosts a special visit from author Anna-Lisa Cox on April 19. Cox will be on campus to discuss her book, A Stronger Kinship: One Town's Extraordinary Story of Hope and Faith, which tells the story of racial integration in Covert, Mich. Since the 19th Century, in an era and country roiled with racial tensions, Covert has been a place where "blacks and whites lived peacefully and equally with shared political power, integrated schools and interracial marriage." Over ten years, Cox culled research from local newspapers, personal diaries, and first-hand reminisces depicting a town that was and still is racially integrated.

Anna-Lisa Cox is a historian, writer, and lecturer on the history of race relations in the 19th-century Midwest. A recipient of numerous research awards, like the National Endowment for the Humanities Younger Scholars Award and the Pew Younger Scholars Fellowship, Cox received a master of philosophy degree in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge and a doctoral degree in American history at the University of Illinois. Currently, she is a scholar in residence at the Newberry Library in Chicago, Ill.

A Stronger Kinship has been selected for Michigan's Notable Books Program. Every year, the Library of Michigan acknowledges 20 of the previous year's best books that were either written by a Michigan author or contain Michigan or the Great Lakes as subject matter. The program then includes a tour of libraries around Michigan, in which the book authors engage the audience in reading and connecting with each other in learning more about Michigan. It further enhances interest in Michigan history and provides a context for understanding the events that have shaped contemporary Michigan. Program sponsors include: Michigan Humanities Council, National Endowment for the Humanities, Borders, ProQuest, Cooley Law School, LaSalle Bank, the Michigan Center for the Book, Schuler Books, the Library of Michigan and the Library of Michigan Foundation. The James White Library is one of 65 libraries in the state to participate in the tour.

Cox will speak at 7 pm in the Garber Auditorium of Chan Shun Hall on April 19. The event is free and open to the public.